Michael Norris / Amarillo Globe-News Dave Ries place flowers at his son, SSgt David G. Ries, memorial before the start of the Texas Panhandle War Memorial Memorial Day Ceremonies Monday, May 28, 2012 at Veterans Park. SSgt Ries died in Iraq in 2004.

Related Links

After some 1,200 people gathered Monday morning to remember military veterans who lost their lives in service, Texas Panhandle War Memorial President Fred Rangel urged the crowd to keep fallen soldiers and their families in mind throughout Memorial Day.

“We need to remember them every day, but especially today,” Rangel said.

At the memorial site, 4101 S. Georgia St., Mayor Paul Harpole, who served two tours in the Vietnam War as a crew chief of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Platoon, 45th Dust-Off Air Ambulance of the 44th Medical Brigade, shared his memories of his time with the air ambulance unit, which was charged with flying unarmed helicopters into battle zones and rescuing soldiers.

Harpole had copies made of a photo he and 20 of his fellow soldiers had taken at a home base in Long Binh, Vietnam. After audience members received a photo copy, Harpole pointed out individual soldiers, describing them. One of those soldiers was Spc. Don Marlow. Harpole said he and Marlow would run into each other from time to time.

“We passed (each other) … several times and we started just saying ‘bread and butter’ to each other because we were in a hurry and wanted to acknowledge each other,” Harpole said.

“Bread and butter” was a sort of superstitious greeting U.S. soldiers in Vietnam would use as a way of wishing each other good luck, Harpole said.

Marlow’s luck ran out during a tragic air evacuation mission.

Marlow was lowering a cable used to reach soldiers from his helicopter 200 feet above a battlefield when gunfire ripped through the helicopter, instantly killing medic Spc. Kevin Keheler, Harpole said.

“The aircraft flight controls were damaged by enemy fire,” he said.

The helicopter plunged to the ground, he said.

“American infantrymen underneath who were preparing to evacuate their friends scattered as (the helicopter) fell,” Harpole said. “Exploding parts and dreadful sounds fell towards these men as they took cover from the new enemy, this out-of-control death trap plummeting towards them.

“Within seconds silence had returned and John Smith, the aircraft commander, along with Don Marlow, the crew chief, were dead, joining their friend Kevin, the medic. There would never be another picture taken of Don.”

For Barbara Tate of Amarillo the pain of losing a loved one was still very real Monday. Her son, Darren Tate, 21, a U.S. Army aviation ordnanceman, died from pneumonia July 8, 2009, at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

“I thank God every day for the time I had with him, for blessing me,” she said tearfully. “He was just my joy. He made my life happy and joyful every day.”

Rangel said the events at the war memorial are meant to help comfort families of fallen soldiers, though the void in their lives can never be filled.

“This is why we honor the families, because they’ve sacrificed just as much as their sons or daughters that never returned,” he said. “It’s a three-day holiday, but the meaning of Memorial Day to me is to honor the ultimate sacrifice that the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces made for our freedoms.”